The present invention relates to a cap or cover for mounting on a head portion of an aerosol container, particularly a cap for facilitating safe and easy release of a pressurized gas contained in such an aerosol container for discharging the same.
In a prior art, an aerosol container is widely used for discharging various kind of agent such as a paint, a cleaner, a hair-conditioner, an aromatic, and an insecticide. In such a container, not only an effective ingredient of the paint etc., but also a pressurized gas or an evaporable solvent for discharging the ingredient as a mist to the out of the container. These pressurized gas and the evaporated solvent may still remain in the container after the container is discarded, being used out or rendering unnecessary. The container with its content remaining therein should not be burned to discard, since it may be exploded. Moreover, the above-mentioned ingredient may be harmful to human body. Accordingly, it is desirable that the contents such as the gas are released before the container is discarded.
When the used out or unnecessary container is discarded, several methods are taken for releasing the gas or effective ingredient in the prior art. One of the method is to bore a hole on a body of the container by using a nail, drill, etc., by hand. The other one is to use a special boring device for making a perforation from which the gas or the ingredient is discharged. However, the former method may cause a problem in view of safety or sanitation, since the discharged content such as the gas may fall on a person who execute the boring operation. It may also causes an another problem that contents such paint may be discharged together with the gas and soil the person or the place therearound. On the other hand, the latter method is not suitable for a personal or a home use, since it needs a place or cost for installing the device.
In order to solve the above mentioned problem, the Japanese Patent Laid Open No. 10 (1998)-53289 provides an aerosol container by which anybody can release the gas or the content remaining in the container with ease. As shown in FIG. 24, the container includes a cap 101 having a turbular body and a top plate connected thereto, and a container body 103 having a discharge head upwardly protruding through a stem, and a winding rim on which the cap is fitted. The top plate has a center portion which is depressed to step into the inside of the cap to form a recess 105 into which a caulking portion of a mounting cap is able to be fitted. At the center of the recess, a small-diameter, cylindrical protrusion 106 is formed for engaging with a nozzle portion 102 of the aerosol container, with a gas-discharging hole 206 being formed in a vicinity of a bottom of the cylindrical portion.
For releasing the gas in the container body of the aerosol container with such a cap, the cap is removed from a head of the container body, and recapped again in an inverted posture. As shown in FIG. 25, when an engagement portion formed around the recess is fitted and secured to the abovementioned caulking portion, the discharge head is engaged into the cylindrical protrusion of the cap and depressed downwards, keeping a discharging state unless the cap is separated from the container body.
However, the above-mentioned container is troublesome, since the cap has to be removed from the container body and inverted to recap again. And also, at the time of releasing the cap mounted on the head portion of the container body is upwardly open, such that when the content such as paint is discharged accompanying with the gas, the content scatters upwardly, soiling the person and place therearound.
Moreover, the top plate of the cap has a complicated, concave and convex structure for keeping the release of the content with a user""s hand free from the container. When such a cap is integrally made of synthetic resin, a mould for forming the cap has to have a complicated structure, increasing a cost for manufacture.
To solve such a problem, Japanese utility model Registration No. 3056237 discloses another aerosol container with a cap 221 enabling the release of the content, shown in FIG. 26. The cap, which is integrally made of synthetic resin, and comprises a tubular body having at its end means for engaging with a winding portion of a container body, and an inclined top wall which is connected to the tubular body and has a depression piece 110 connected by a hinge for depressing a depression head 111.
For discarding this container when it is used out or unnecessary, the user should hold the container body with one hand while with the cap putting on the container body, and press the depression piece 224 of the top plate of the cap by the other hand, such that a connection link for supporting the depression piece is broken, and the depression piece falls into the cap by turning on the hinge 225 so as to press a discharge head 226, from which the contents remaining in the container body such as the pressurized gas and the paint or the other component are discharged.
Due to the construction of this container, a substance ejected energetically from the discharge head strikes against the inside of the cap, and is confined initially within the cap, and then generally escaping from it to the outside through an aperture formed by tearing around the periphery of the depression piece. This structure contributes to prevent the contents from ejecting outside directly so as to scatter around and soil the person and place therearound. Particularly, the content is not blown strongly to the nearby person. However, according to the above-mentioned structure, after the depression piece is pressed into a discharging position by the finger and then it is released, the depression piece is not able to halt at the discharging position by itself, and returns to its original position by a pushing up force of the discharge head. Accordingly, it is not possible to discharge all of the remaining content automatically.
Japanese Patent Laid Open No. 2001-19067 discloses an aerosol container enabling the automatic release of the remaining content, which has a container body from a top of which an upwardly biased discharge head is protruding, and a cap having a turbular body with a lower end engaged to the upper end of the turbular body, and a top plate covering an upper surface of the turbular body. The top plate has a downwardly tapering peripheral portion and an upwardly convex center portion which may be elastically inverted into a concave or downwardly protruding posture so as to forcibly depress the discharge head by the inversion of the center portion. However, in this container, the center portion is possibly pushed into the inverted, concave posture by a contact of some object or miss-operation of the user, such that the content of the container is release in the period of use against the will of the user. Moreover, in a normal mode for gas-releasing, when the container is treated roughly, for example throwing into a garbage box before the gas exhaustion is completed, the inverted center portion of the top plate may return to an original shape due to the strike against other obstacle, such that the gas-releasing halts insufficiently.
Japanese Patent Laid Open No. 11(1999)-70986 discloses another aerosol container enabling the automatic release of the remaining content, which has a tilt-type container body from which a discharge stem is erecting, from which the content is discharged only when the discharge stem is tilt or inclined from a vertical posture, a discharge tube fitted on the discharge stem and having an outward flange on a lower end of the tube itself, and a cap having a top-closed peripheral wall for connecting with a top end of the container body, whereby the peripheral wall is provided at its one side with a pair of upper and lower split lines, between which a reversible engagement plate is formed for elastically turning over into the inside of the cap, and engaging with a depressed side of the outward flange when the discharge stem is tilt, to keep the tilt posture to keep on discharging. However, the structure of the cap is effective only for the tilt type container.
The primary object of the present invention is to provide a cap for mounting on an aerosol container, which enables an automatic release with a simple action, by turning a lid defined by a part of its top wall into a second position in which the lid orient into the cap so as to depress the discharge head of the container and providing a stopper for fixing the lid.
For achieving this purpose, the present invention provides;
a cap for mounting on an aerosol container having a container body ( ) with a top end from which a discharge head 3 is protruding upwardly, said cap comprising;
a turbular body member having a lower part which is able to be engaged to an upper part of said container body,
a top plate member having a periphery connected to an upper end portion of the turbular body member so as to close a top surface of the turbular body member,
wherein said top plate member has an aperture and a lid for closing the aperture, said lid has a fixed end which is connected to a margin of the aperture through a bendable line, such that the lid is able to turn from a first position in which the lid closes the aperture, to a second position in which the lid is protruding into the turbular body member so as to get in touch with a top face of the discharge head that is depressed downwardly, and the top plate member also has a stopper for fixing the lid in the second position so as to keep the discharge head in such a pressed state.
The second purpose of the present invention is to prevent such a cap with the lid having one or more folding plates, for mounting on the aerosol container, which is adapted to lock the discharge head in a depressed state not only pushing the folding plate(s) into the cap but also engaging each folding plate directly or indirectly with the stopper for fixing the folding plate immovably, such that an intentional release of the contents due to miss-operation of the user, etc., is favorably prevented.
For achieving this purpose, three type of caps are proposed, each of which comprise the structure described in the first purposed of the present invention and are characterized by the following additional features.
One of the cap has the aperture which is defined by a pair of vent holes, and the lid which is defined by a pair of folding plates for covering the vent holes and depressing the discharge nozzle, a pair of fitting portions are formed at opposed faces of the folding plates in the second position for providing mutual engagement, such that either of the folding plates function as the stopper for fixing the other of the folding plates.
Another cap has the lid which is defined by a folding plate having the fixed end jointed to the margin of the aperture through the bendable line, and the stopper is protruding downwardly from a reminder of the margin except the bendable line for engaging with the folding plate in the second position.
The other cap has the aperture deviating from a longitudinal central axis of the discharge nozzle and having an inner marginal portion which is close to the central axis; the lid formed by a folding plate being connected to the inner marginal portion for covering the aperture and a depression plate protruding from an underside of the folding plate in the first position; and the stopper is depending from one side of the top plate portion opposite to the bendable line for engaging with a leading end portion of the depression plate.
The third purpose of the present invention is provide such a cap with the aforementioned lid which may turn on the fixed end into the cap, moving away from an opening of the aperture to the second position in which the lid is locked with the stopper. To achieve this purpose, the lid may preferably turn 90 degrees or more with respect to the top plate member when it shifts from the first position to the second position.
The fourth purpose of the present invention is to depress the discharge head certainly to a prescribed discharging position in the type of the cap having the pair of folding plates, by that the first and second fitting portions are allowed to fitted each other only when the pair of folding plates are parallel and vertical to the vertical to the top plate member.
The fifth purpose of the present invention is to carry out the automatic release with more ease, preferably by a single action. This purpose is achieved by that the said pair of vent holes function as finger receiving hole, through which the folding plates are pressed to turn into the second position without removing the cap from the container.
The sixth purpose of the present invention is to guarantee a comfortable use of the cap according to the present invention, particularly having the pair of folding plates, by removing a possible inconvenience in the use of the same. In a case the gas releasing operation is carried out with the cap putting on the container, it is preferable to make a chamfer at a corner between the circumferential surface and upper surface of the discharge head in order to reduce the resistance when the free end of the folding plate rides over the corner of the discharge head. Moreover, in a case the gas releasing operation is carried out by removing the cap from the container to fit the first and second fitting portions, and recapping it again, it is preferable that the partition plate has a thickness and width sufficient for resisting a shearing stress so as to depress the discharge head by means of the folding plates in the second position, when an user, griping the cylinder body member, removes the cap from the aerosol container to fit the first and second fitting portions, and fit the cap on the aerosol container.
Further purpose will be apparent from the following description of the present invention.